The Big Bang in Islam – Quran & Science
9:27
13 Jul 2010
Astronomy, Miracles / I'jaz
Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
This video is a clip from the television show “Quran and Science”. In this segment Zaghloul El-Naggar and others discuss where the term “Big Bang” originated, and his construction of how ideas about the universe are demonstrated in the Qurʾān.
The other people in the clip are Amer Mumtaz, the host, and Brother Fu’ad and Brother Mustafa. This is section 2 of 3 in the original video.
The original air date of this clip is unknown.
Evaluation:
In terms of history, El-Naggar’s representation of European Renaissance-era scientists as being anti-religion is false.
El-Naggar is using the Qurʾān as a starting point from which to understand science, which scientists generally find a misapplication of the scientific method.
The material on Islam is within the bounds of what Muslims have historically understood as acceptable.
About Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
Born in 1933 in Egypt, Zaghloul El-Naggar received a PhD in geology in 1963 from the University of Wales in the UK. The majority of his scholarship has focused on i’jāz, the idea that scientific facts may be found in the Qurʾān, proving its miraculous nature. A collection of his videos can be found on the Discovering Islam website.
He was considered a threat by earlier Egyptian governments; he now is the head of the Committee of Scientific Notions in the Qurʾān, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Cairo.
El-Naggar believes that scientific interpretation may only be done with material that may be experienced, unlike references to the soul, jinn, etc, which should be approached with faith alone. However, he also suggests that the Qurʾān may “orient scientists in attaining new ‘cosmic truths’.” (Bigliardi, 103)
Selected Bibliography:
His own web site: http://elnaggarzr.com/en/
The Quran & Science web site: http://www.quranandscience.com/
“Zaghloul El-Naggar” Wikipedia. Accessed 19 April 2015.
Bigliardi, S. (2014). Islam and the Quest for Modern Science: Conversations with Adnan Oktar, Mehdi Golshani, Mohammed Basil Altaie, Zaghloul El-Naggar, Bruno Guiderdoni and Nidhal Guessoum. Istanbul, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul.
“Dr. Zaghloul Najjar.” Discovering Islam. Discovering Islam, n.d. Web. Accessed 18 June 2015.